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Posted 7/15/2015 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
I just got back my initial blood test results from Quest which I'm told are negative. I'm not sure what the particular test was - it just says "Lyme Disease AB (IGG)" Two of the bands came back "reactive," specifically 41 KD (IGG) Band and 66 KD (IGG) Band. Although it says that 5 of the 10 bands tested have to come back reactive to be considered positive, are those two bands specific to lyme or can they be something else? I'm on Long Island and went to a doctor that is listed as an LLMD, but I'm told he isn't actually good by some on this group, so I'm not sure if I should take those results to someone else. I just went to him because he's on my insurance.
Posted 7/15/2015 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
Consider Quest is one of the worst labs for doing these tests - congrats on getting that much!! Here is the site that I use to get my information on these tests and what each band means:
www.reocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/western-blot.txt

Bands 41 and 66 are not Borrelia burgdorferi specific (the one single strain -out of over 100 known to cause human illness - that the Gov't and IDSA is most concerned about), they are still strains of Borrelia, and so will cause serious symptoms.

Band 41 can cross react with are indicative of the tail of the bacteria, which can cross react with other Spirochetal bacteria such as Relapsing Fever, Pintas and Yaws, and Syphilis.

Band 66 however is specific for Borrelia Garinii
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=PMID%3A+9162453&p%24a=&p%24l=DefaultSite&p%24st=m

This is an European strain. "The most common cause of Lyme neuroborreliosis in Europe is Borrelia garinii..."
cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/43/6/704.long


If this LLMD won't treat you, you need to find a more knowledgeable LLMD - they are not created equal!
Posted 7/15/2015 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your reply. I agree that I need to find a more knowledgeable doctor, but I figured I'd start there since it was covered by my insurance and if it came up positive then I could avoid spending money out of pocket. Why is Quest one of the worst? Just curious.
Posted 7/15/2015 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
To be fair, Labcorp is only slightly better, and I'm not sure why, but I think it's because they actually test for another strain or two. But neither Labcorp or Quest use the right testing material (the stuff in the petri dish), or give the test enough time (Lyme is one of the slowest replicating bacteria for human illness - instead of hours or days, it takes weeks to replicate).

Igenex trains their techs on the specifics of how to test for Lyme, making sure that the tests are done properly, and for the required amount of time. They also test for 4 or 5 different strains of Borrelia (Lyme), not just the one that the CDC like to try to track (B. burgdorferi).
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